


we'll keep running through the dark

by iamalystark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Avengers: Endgame Fix-It, Civil War Fix-It, Coffee Addict Tony Stark, Emotional Hurt, Everyone Needs A Hug, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity Gems, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resurrection, Sort Of, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, an everything fix-it basically, only for a bit, the infinity stones are a person btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:53:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamalystark/pseuds/iamalystark
Summary: “I’m offering you a chance to go back and change your lives. Save your world before the threat comes to it.” Infinity explains, and they can’t help but look between each other.A world without the blip? Without Thanos? It’s not even an option.“What do we have to do?”(Or, Tony and Natasha meet in the afterlife and are given the chance to go back and save the world one last time.)
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Everyone, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Everyone
Comments: 20
Kudos: 199





	1. Chapter 1

Everything is light. That’s the first thing Tony notices. And not like there was a shining bulb somewhere. No, it was more like pure, blinding whiteness was just everywhere. He blinks a few times, brings his hand out in front of his face. 

It doesn’t hurt like he expects it to. In fact, it doesn’t hurt at all. He’s still wearing the suit, red and gold shining as brightly as when he made it. The stones are missing from his hand, though, and for that he’s slightly relieved.

_ Is this the end? _ He thinks,  _ It’s kind of boring. _

He stands with ease, no pains or aches like he’d just fought in the biggest battle the world had ever seen. Tony turns, sees nothing, turns again. It’s all nothing, all around. 

Where is he? 

“Hello?” He calls out hesitantly, not using his usual snark so as not to piss off whatever probable god-like being had brought him here. “If this is Hell, it’s not as bad as the media makes it out to be.” He jokes, eyes still searching. 

“Still joking, even in the afterlife.” Comes the voice of one very familiar super spy. He spins around, quicker this time, and finds himself face to face with Natasha Romanoff. 

“Nat.” The relief in his voice is obvious, and neither of them hesitate to wrap each other in a hug. He holds her close, just breathing in her familiar scent for a moment, before he pulls back and flashes a grin. 

“Willing physical contact? You sure you’re still Natasha?” The billionaire teases, and she rolls her eyes. 

“I’m dead, let me live a little.” She shoots back, before taking a moment to consider what she’d just said, and they both laugh.

“ _ Avengers _ .”

In an instant, their joking moods are gone, and they look to the new voice tensely. In front of them stands a woman. Tony doesn’t recognize her. 

“Who are you? Where are we?” Tony interrogates right away, and Natasha puts her hand on his arm in a soothing gesture. 

She doesn’t answer, and the peacefulness on her face is almost unsettling. “ _ You both sacrificed your lives for the sake of the universe. You did not hesitate, nor did you put your own wants above the needs of everyone else.” _ She says, a smile forming on her lips. 

Her voice echoes in a way the pair can’t understand. “Comes with the job description.” Tony replies passively, and Natasha just sighs. 

Again, the woman smiles.  _ “You had lives many beings strive for, you had family and friends, irreplaceable bonds. And still, you gave it up in a heartbeat.” _

“What good is family if they don’t have a world to live in?” Natasha asks, her arms crossed over her chest. 

“It was them or me. I would always choose them.” Tony adds, voice hard and firm. He knows, with everything in him, it is true.

_ “Would you choose them one last time?” _

“Who the hell are you?” He demands, a near growl in his voice. 

_ “I am Time, Anthony. I am Power, I am Reality, I am Soul, I am Mind, and I am Space. I am Infinity, Avengers, and I am here to give you a second chance.”  _ She moves her hands in front of herself, revealing six brightly shining lights in her chest that they both recognized on sight. 

“You’re the Infinity Stones.” Natasha breathes, her arms dropping to her sides as she takes an unconscious step closer.

_ “I am all of that, while also none of that. What I am is simply too much for your mortal minds to comprehend. However, you don’t need to understand me to save your world.” _ Infinity tells them, and for some stupid, otherwordly, probably cosmic reason, they want to listen to her. 

“I thought we just did save the world. I snapped, Thanos and his army are gone. Our family is alive, our friends are alive. What else do you want us to do?” The brunet questions, scoffing as he drops his hands to his sides.

_ “I want you to try again.” _ She says, and the two Avengers are baffled. 

Infinity turns so her back is to them, and flicks out her hands. In front of them, images of their loved ones and teammates flash by, memories and images, and instances they hadn’t seen yet.  _ “Tell me, who is left of the mighty Avengers? Who will save your planet when another threat rises?” _

“They will.” Natasha responds, steps closer. “They don’t need us. If another enemy arises, they will be strong enough to defeat them.”

_ “Not if. When.” _ Infinity looks to them both, the images still flashing by. Clint, Thor, Bruce. All of them.  _ “You speak so confidently, Natalia, but you do not know what I know. Earth will fall. Without the mightiest heroes, that was always the case.” _

“They do have heroes, though. Heroes better than us.” Tony pipes in, because he believes it to his very core.

Infinity flashes a look to him then, almost sharp.  _ “What heroes? Peter Parker? He is but a boy. Thor Odinson? Galaxies away. Bruce Banner, his fighting days are over. Clint Barton, retired. Steve Rogers, near death. Vision? Dead, gone in a way not even I can bring him back from. Wanda Maximoff? Stephen Strange? Every other hero you think will be enough?” _ She looms over them, her face dark.  _ “They will not.” _

Tony feels physically sick at her words, taking a stumbling step backwards. He didn’t want to believe her, but he had to, didn’t he? Infinity turns back to the images, and they blur, shifting to yet more memories. 

Memories from the beginning, from when they all stood together, from when their trust in each other was at its best.  _ “Do you know why the Avengers always win, Tony Stark? Natasha Romanoff?”  _

They look between each other, lost. “Why?” Natasha finally manages to ask, and Infinity looks serene once again. 

_ “Because, in the beginning, you were united. You trusted in one another. You were a family. When that broke apart, so did the fate of your world. So, I ask you yet again, would you choose them one last time?” _


	2. Chapter 2

Tony swallows, his throat dry from the amount of times he had done so in the past few minutes. He looks to Natasha, his friend staring at the ground with a slight frown on her face. “How do we know this will work?” She asks him quietly.

The billionaire offers her a tired smile. “We don’t. But, we have to try.” 

She huffs slightly. “You ready?”

“Not even slightly.” 

They turn their gazes to Infinity, who nods approvingly.  _ “You have one chance, Avengers. Use it wisely. _ ”

With that, a light even brighter than what is around them flashes in front of their faces, and disappears completely.

* * *

_ “I’m offering you a chance to go back and change your lives. Save your world before the threat comes to it.” _ _ Infinity explains, and they can’t help but look between each other. _

_ A world without the blip? Without Thanos? It’s not even an option. _

_ “What do we have to do?” _

* * *

It wasn’t hard to decide what time they’d be going to, both of them immediately figuring out when the tensions between them had been the highest. 2016. It had been the year the Accords had been introduced, and when Tony met Peter Parker. It was a year of many events, and they had to choose just right.

The world materializes around them like a game loading up, and they find themselves landing on the hard ground without warning. Tony lets out a grunt as he lands on his hands and knees, eyes immediately finding their reflection in the shining floor. 

He can’t help but trace the scars running down the side of his face. “Tony!”

His gaze snaps to Natasha, who is already standing, and pulls him up. “We have to find them. We can’t stick around for just anyone to find us. Come on.”

The billionaire allows her to help him, and he looks around the compound. It’s eerie, as for him it had just been destroyed. “Sir? Agent Romanoff? I don’t understand.” Greets the voice of the one and only FRIDAY. 

Tony grins. “Hey, girl. Any chance you know where the other me is at?”

“How are there two of you? I do not understand.” The AI questions helplessly, and he feels sorry for her. 

“We’ll explain it all, FRI. Please just tell us where they are.” Natasha interrupts, knowing how long Tony can talk to his AIs.

“Of course. They are in the common room, discussing the Accords.”

Tony actually winces at that, but he nods to Nat, and they begin down the hall.

How will he react to seeing himself? Their voices are what they become aware of first. 

“-I just mishear you, or did you agree with me?”

Tony stiffens at hearing his own voice, and sure enough, “Oh, I want to take it back now.”

It’s then that they finally step into the others’ view, and their voices fall silent. 

“What the fuck?”

Tony, his eyes sparkling with amusement, looks to his younger self. “I know, right? We age beautifly.”

In an instant, weapons are on them. 2016 Tony has a wrist blaster aimed at them, Natasha, Rhodey, and Sam have guns, and Wanda simply holds out her hands, red glowing around them. 

“Who the hell are you?” Steve demands, eyes flicking to his phone as it buzzes, but looks back to them. 

“Okay, really? Is it that hard to guess? Our lookalikes are  _ right _ there.” Tony rolls his eyes, gesturing to their younger selves. 

Natasha smacks him on the arm, and he glares over at her.

“You expect us to believe that you’re some other version of us? What’s next, more Avengers show up at the door?” The 2016 Nat scoffs, eyes flicking behind them like she was really considering it.

“I hope not.” Tony mumbles, too quiet for anyone to hear, before louder, saying, “Not other, per say. Just older.”

“What he is trying to say,” Natasha starts, voice even, “is that we are you from 2023.”

It’s so silent, they half expect crickets to start chirping. 

“FRIDAY?”

“From what I can tell from my scans, Boss, they’re telling the truth.”

“Thank you, honey.” Tony says, rolling his eyes yet again. The others still don’t lower their weapons. 

“Why should we believe you?” HIs counterpart queries, looking more curious than cautious now. 

“Peter Parker.” Is all he says. 

2016 Tony drops his hand to his side, blinking. 

Natasha’s younger version doesn’t seem to be as convinced. 

Shifting slightly, she narrows her eyes, examining her. “Ivan.” She murmurs, voice clipped, and isn’t surprised when she puts her gun down. 

“Say we do believe you,” Rhodey pipes up, stepping forward, and Tony’s eyes are immediately drawn to his best friend’s brace free legs. “Why are you here? And why you two specifically? Why not the whole team?”

Imagining the whole team dead sends a small chill down Tony’s pine. He chooses not to think about that. “You know me, Honeybear, I’m all about dramatics. What better reason to time travel again than to save the world?”

“Again.” Natasha adds, letting a smirk overtake her face.

The dread that fills the room almost smothers them, and Tony shifts from one foot to the other. 

“How are we supposed to just believe this?” Wanda finally speaks up, stepping forward. 

Panic spikes at the billionaire’s heart for a moment, but he swallows it down. “Look in my head. Memories don’t lie.”

His younger counterpart makes a noise in the back of his throat, and nobody but him would notice the fear on his face. 

Wanda’s eyes widen, and she stammers. “I’m not supposed to-”

“I’ve trusted you for years. Just do it.” He sighs out. Natasha puts a comforting hand on his arm, her brows furrowing. 

With an unsure look to Vision, who hasn’t spoken yet, she steps forward, and puts her hand to his head hesitantly, eyes seeming to question the story of the scars, and she looks. 

_ “Oh, Mr. Parker.” He greets, looking to a teenage boy. The boy’s eyes widen. (Another instance with the boy, crumbling and crying. He breaks apart in his arms.) _

_ Tony is facing one half of the Avengers, the other half on his side. “I’m trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart!” _

_ “You did that when you signed.” Steve says to him, and something in Tony knows that this is it. _

_ (In a bunker now, “This isn’t going to change what happened.”  _

_ “I don’t care. He killed my mom.”) _

_ Rhodey falls. _

_ An unfamiliar man speaks, his voice grim, “He can destroy life on a scale of hitherto undreamt of.” (A flash of a large, purple being. He stabs Tony in the side like it’s nothing.) _

_ Tony is being helped off of a large ship, weak and unsteady. Steve rushes to his aid. “Couldn’t stop him. _

_ “Neither could I.” _

_ He looks pained as he says, “I lost the kid.” _

_ “Tony, we lost.” _

_ Five years of rebuilding, of mourning those they lost. Tony and Pepper have a daughter.  _

_ “We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back.” Natasha pleads. (Tony wraps his arms around the boy one more time.) _

_ Clint falls to his knees. Tony knows it, Natasha is dead. (He snaps, and his thoughts drift from his family to Natasha, and then he is gone.) _

_ Everything is light. _

Wanda falls back with a pained gasp, her eyes wide and breaths stuttering. She looks to the man with pure horror on her face. “Oh God,” She cries, “You’re dead.”


	3. Chapter 3

Tony takes a moment to blink, bringing his hands up to his head as Wanda stumbles backward in horror. “Wanda. . .” Natasha sighs, shifting. 

The others all watch, fear etched into their faces. “I’m dead? Nat- Nat and I are dead?” 2016 Tony asks breathlessly, his eyes void of emotion. 

“You are. We are.” Natasha confirms, eyes trailing over her former teammates, landing on herself. Her younger counterpart doesn’t look sad or afraid, she doesn’t look  _ anything _ .

But Nat can read herself, can see the question in her eyes and the way she looks to Tony as if wondering if she can save him.

“It happened in 2023.” Natasha tells them, noticing that they’re not actively aiming weapons at them anymore. She gestures to the couches, asking silently if they could sit. 

Nodding, younger Tony is the first to drop down. Slowly, they all sit, the Accords momentarily forgotten. “There are more aliens out there,” she begins, and a grim look sets over her. 

“Thanos, he’s the reason it happened. He’s a huge, purple titan of a being. He sent Loki for the space stone. The tesseract.” The Avengers shift uneasily at this. 

“We should probably explain the Infinity Stones, huh?” Tony interjects, chuckling weakly. He flexes the fingers of his scarred hand. 

“There are six of them, and they make up everything in the universe.” The redhead explains, her mind going back to what she’d had to do for the soul stone.

“There is Space, Mind,” she looks to Vision’s head, “Time, which is with whoever was before Stephen Strange, Power, Reality, and Soul.”

“We’re not getting the Soul Stone this time,” Tony tells them all, looking to Nat. 

“Why?” Everyone looks to Vision, who is speaking for the first time since the newcomers had arrived. “Wouldn’t it make sense to gather all of them? I’m assuming this being wants them.”

“We’re not getting the Soul Stone because it requires a sacrifice. A soul for a soul. And Natasha paid that price.”

Natasha shoots her gaze to him, a flat look on her face. “Tony, you sacrificed yourself too. You had a family.”

“So did you.” Tony hisses lowly, then looks away, back to the others. 

“You made BARF already, right?” He stands. “We can show you some of the things that happened, make a plan to stop them.”

“It changes memories, it doesn’t show them as they were.” 

“Then change it. Recalibrate it. I know you can.” Tony lets out a large breath through his nose, closing his eyes for a minute. 

“We need to gather some people.” Natasha says, standing as well. “Fury, Clint, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Carol Danvers, Peter Parker, James Barnes, Thor, and Bruce.”

“Thor and Bruce have been gone for just under a year. We have no idea where they are.” Steve interrupts. 

“They’re on some alien planet right now, Danvers will be able to find them.” Tony brushes off, and he squints at the far wall. 

“First off, Accords.” 

The mood of the room shifts, tension building. “They’re wrong.” Tony announces, and his younger counterpart blinks, shocked. 

Steve takes on a smug look, but Natasha shut it down with a single raise of her brows. “You don’t get to feel all high and mighty, not after lying to my face and to Tony’s face for two years. You told me you told him.”

The supersoldier’s face drains of blood. 2016 Tony frowns in confusion, and Tony sighs, running his hand over his face. “Lied about what?”

“About the fact that Manchurian Candidate killed my parents in 1991.” The billionaire says, a pained smile taking over his face.

His younger self stands, eyes wide and face flush with fury, and the younger Natasha looks to Steve, bewildered. “You didn’t tell him?”

Tony stands just as his counterpart lunges at Steve, and he taps his arc reactor twice, the suit enveloping him as he raises his hand, blaster pointed at his own chest. 

“Fighting will get you nowhere. It got us nowhere the last time I tried to fight Steve and his one armed buddy. Calm down. Now.” 

With an angry snarl, 2016 turns on his heel and storms off, presumably to his lab, and the others stand there in tense silence. 

“I’m sorry, Tony. I really am.” The blond says, his voice barely a whisper. 

“Don’t, Rogers. I’ve heard all of your excuses, and frankly, it doesn’t fucking matter. What matters is the fact that in two years, half the universe is killed.”

The silence is almost deafening. “What do you mean?”

“I mean Wanda, I mean Bucky, and Sam, and T’challa, Fury, Hill, Peter Parker, Clint’s family. Half the world. Half the universe, gone.” Natasha answers, a pained look on her face. 

“And then in 2023, we got the stones. Natasha died for the Soul Stone, and we managed to get all of the rest. Bruce snapped, brought everyone back.” Tony continues, remembering the look on Clint’s face, remembering the way his heart dropped into his stomach and he thought,  _ Oh God no, please not her. . . _

“Then Thanos came. They were beating us, there was no way we would have won, so I got the stones, and I snapped my fingers, and we won.”

“What do the Accords have to do with any of this?” Rhodey asks, shaken. 

“I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

They turn, finding 2016 Tony standing in the doorway with the BARF glasses hanging loosely from his fingers. 

“I guess we will.” Natasha nods, shifting by her Tony. 

“I guess we will.” 


	4. Chapter 4

They end up deciding not to watch any of their memories until everybody necessary is gathered. 2016 Nat leaves the room to reach out to Clint and Fury, while Sam, after getting directions from 2016 Tony, goes to get Scott and Hope.

“You get Parker,” Tony says, pointing at his past self, then to Steve, “and you get Barnes. Uh, take Maximoff with you. Nat, where was that apartment he was staying at it before the U.N. tried to murder him?”

Silence rings awkwardly after he finishes speaking. “I’ll give them the address before they leave.” Natasha says, nodding to him. 

“ _ Thank you _ . At least somebody here likes me,” he sighs exasperatedly. 

“Nah, I just keep you around for your money, you know it.”

Tony takes a minute to grin at her, before his gaze lands on the past Avengers still in front of them. “We’ll get him,” Steve declares firmly, and Tony nods, then looks to his past self.

“Why am I getting the Spider-Kid?”

“Because in my time, I recruited him to help detain the Rogues. Bad choice on my part, even worse choice to get him for this, but we need him.”  _ I need him _ , goes unsaid. 

It didn’t matter what universe he was in, he would  _ always _ need his kid. “Wait, kid? Tony, you recruited a kid?” Rhodey asks in disbelief, and Tony rolls his eyes. 

“Yes, Honeybear. I recruited my kid, I’m absolutely terrible, I know.” He responds, pinching the bridge of his nose with a grimace. “Heard enough of that from Pep and Aunt Hottie.”

“Hey, if I’d known how young he was, you’d have gotten the same shit from me,” Natasha points out from beside him, and he raises a brow. 

“You were too busy betraying me and becoming a war criminal, thanks.”

“ _ What _ ?” Steve asks, gaping. 

“Oh yeah, there was a whole thing. The Avengers broke up, half of you were war criminals, Rogers left me to die in Siberia. . .” Tony says, counting off his fingers like he was just making a simple tally. 

2016 Tony stands abruptly. “I’ll get the kid.” He left. 

“Welp.”

Natasha rolls her eyes, jotting down an address for Steve and bidding him and Wanda a short goodbye.

After all that, the only people in the room besides Tony and Nat are Rhodey and Vision. 

“I am nursing the largest headache of like, all time.” Tony mutters, leaning back on the sofa. He pauses, though. “No, no, that one in college was definitely worse. Oh damn, I do  _ not _ miss being fifteen.”

“You were adorable,” Rhodey says from across from him, a small smile on his face. 

He throws his hands in the air. “I can never escape it. I sacrifice myself for the fate of the universe and I  _ still _ can’t escape it.”

Nat snorts. Rhodey, on the other hand, falls silent, his smile fading. 

Right, the mental image of your best friend dying would dampen anyone’s mood. “Don’t worry, Platypus. We’re here to make sure the same thing that happened to me doesn’t happen to your Tony. Or your guys’ Nat.”

Rhodey leans forward, offering a weak smile. “It doesn’t matter what time you’re from, Tones. You’re still my Tony.”

Unexpected tears prick at his eyes then, and he blinks. “Well, of course. You’d be foolish not to love all versions of me,” Tony deflects, waving it off. 

“More like foolish  _ to _ love you,” Natasha mumbles jokingly under her breath. Tony gasps.

“Natashalie, did you just admit to being foolish?”

“Mr. Stark,” Vision speaks up for the second time that night, “if I may, I want to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For your death.”

Tony stills. “It wasn’t your fault, Vision. You died years before I did,” he whispers, feeling Nat’s knee brush against his in a display of support. 

Vision looks contemplative at that. “Still. I am sorry. It looks like you had quite a lot to live for,” he says, looking to Tony’s left hand. The billionaire glances down at his wedding ring and blinks, brushing his thumb over it. 

It  _ hurts _ how much he misses his Pepper and Morgan, but there isn’t anything he can do about it. “Thanks, Vision.”

The android simply nods, before making his leave. “So, you and Pepper finally settle down? Or did you meet someone else?” Rhodey questions.

Tony snorted. “It’s Pepper. It’s always been Pepper.”

“You miss her,” Rhodey notes. 

He smiles weakly. “She watched me die, Rhodey.”

Natasha makes a pained noise. “I didn’t know that,” she muttered. 

“Everyone was there, Nat. Pep, Rhodes, the kid. Everyone but you and Morgan.”

Natasha looks down at the mention of her honorary niece, no doubt missing the little girl.

“Morgan?” Rhodey asks in a clear way of changing the topic. 

“My daughter. Morgan Hope Stark. Don’t tell younger me her name, though, when you find out Pep is pregnant.

His eyes light up. “Wait, is she-?”

“Not yet. Give it a few years,” Natasha says, smiling at the memory of when Tony called her in the middle of the night to say that Pepper had taken four pregnancy tests and they were all positive.

“You’re different.”

Natasha looks up at that, sees that Rhodey is looking at her instead of his best friend, and she offers a grim smile. “We lost. We lost too many times for me to stay the same arrogant spy that only looked after myself. The Avengers are my family, Rhodes, you always have been.”

Something like surprise flickers in his eyes, and his gaze drifts to Tony. “You’ve changed too.”

“What can I say, Honeybear? You’re my family too,” he offers, nudging Natasha with his shoulder.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Rhodey speaks up again. “Earlier, when you were talking about Peter Parker, you said he was your kid.”

Tony lets out a tired sigh. “Not biologically, but yeah. He was my kid. Hell, I pretty much saved the universe for him,” he admits, rubbing his thumb over his wedding ring. He thinks of how he’d probably still be living in that cabin with Pepper and Morgan if it weren’t for his love for that kid, but the thought of growing old, and watching his little girl get bigger without her brother. . .

He never would have been able to do it. “God, I miss him,” the billionaire whispers, and his voice cracks. Natasha puts her hand on his knee, a small frown forming on her face. 

“You’re bringing him here right now, Tony.”

Taking a deep breath, he nods. “Right. Which is why we need to prepare. Even with two years on Thanos, taking him on won’t work. Neither will trying to keep the stones scattered around. Shit, we can’t destroy them, Thanos would only use time travel to get them again.”

“Tony.”

He looked helplessly to Natasha. 

“Calm down. Wait until we have everyone gathered, wait until they all know what happened, and we can figure something out together. That was the whole point of Infinity bringing us back here, wasn’t it?” She soothes, but Tony still struggles to steady his breaths. 

“What happened to you guys? What- I don’t know what could possibly make you two into. . . this.” Rhodey asks, looking utterly heartbroken. 

“We lost everything, Rhodes.”

None of them know what to say after that. 


End file.
